Stars Join Together to Benefit Lyme Disease

Lyme Research Alliance's Gala raises roughly $1million

The Lyme Research Alliance’ raises one million dollars after Saturday’s Time for Lyme Gala, allowing it to further its cutting edge research into the most common tick-borne disease in the country.

“It was a no brainer to come out here tonight and talk about lyme disease and how it’s impacted my life," said WNBA player Elena Delle Donne.

WNBA’s reigning rookie of the year is one of the many who came out to show support.

The silent epidemic affects the skins, joints, heart and nervous systems of hundreds of thousands across the country, especially here in the northeast.

And, often times it’s misdiagnosed, as current testing is less than 70 percent accurate.

“I was having all sorts of symptoms," said board member Mark Hopwood. Anything from migraines, to fatigue, to memory loss.”

“And finally it was a physicial at Fox – who said to me, you don’t look right and I said – I don’t feel right," said Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson.

Through this organization, more than eight million dollars has already been raised. And, it's all from deep-rooted passion. This co-founder says she became dedicated when a tick bit her son, who was just seven years old at the time.

“Knock on wood, he hasn’t relapsed at all in probably 17 years and I feel very very lucky but it could happen again tomorrow and I just know the environment is sick and we need the answers," said Debbie Siciliano, co-founder of Lyme Research Alliance.

Late Spring and Summer are the most common times to contract the infection. But, you can greatly reduce your risk by just being cautious. That means checking your skin often and wearing bug repellant. It takes 36 hours for a tick to cause any harm. And, if bitten, antibiotics can be extremely helpful within the first few weeks.

"They just need to be aware and go to doctors who are educated," said Emmy-award winning actress Jane Alexander.